~ Day by day with RA …

Surgery T+2 – They Shoot Horses Don’t They?

There’s a particularly gritty Sidney Pollack film that has since passed into obscurity named They Shoot Horses Don’t They? The backdrop of the film is one of the gruelling marathon dance contests of the depression era where desperate contestants win a few dollars by staying on their feet longer than the competition — literally for days. The lead character, played by Jane Fonda,, points out that when horses get into the dilapidated state the dance contestants are in, they are humanely put out of their misery.

Couple this with the frequent comment of friends and family that they wish me the sheer patience to get through this and you’ve got a good mental snap shot of where I am. I’m doing well, I’m just tired of this. For example, every 8 seconds I have a foot compression system for circulation that alternately sqeezes the right and left balls of my feet. It has been doing this nonstop for 36 hours. I feel like I’m on the death march to Bataan or something.

My IV site is also disintegrating and I have no more sites so we’re trying to keep it as intact as possible, which means that I am trying to keep my left elbow as straight as possible, which means I am typing and eating one-handed. I have no idea what this means for physical therapy because I can’t use my walker with just my right arm.

As I am wont to say, “ARGGHHH!”

Just get me up, get the friggin tubes out of me and get me out of here.

Hopefully we are on the way of accomplishing a good deal of that.

On the brighter side, I’ve decided that my PT guy is a physical teddy bear, not a physical terrorist. And friends, clients and family have sent some gorgeous flowers. And my care has been excellent By this time next week I’ll probably be wishing for all this staff to be at my beck and call.